


harsh augmented reality

by netherfriends



Category: MCSM, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Bad Parenting, Basically this is just me creating bad backstories, Child Abuse, Childhood Trauma, Homelessness, Mental Health Issues, Past Child Abuse, Running Away, Scars, This is dark and deals with deep topics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:33:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26433445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/netherfriends/pseuds/netherfriends
Summary: my intake on the old order of the stone's life, before and after banding together.
Relationships: Gabriel the Warrior & Ellegard the Redstone Engineer, Gabriel the Warrior & Ivor, Gabriel the Warrior & Jesse, Gabriel the Warrior & Soren the Architect, Magnus the Rogue & Gabriel the Warrior
Kudos: 8





	harsh augmented reality

**Author's Note:**

> this is my intake on what might be the original order of the stone's backstories per say. keep in mind, even i do not fully believe in the writing i put down onto these pages so don't try to create any harsh arguments. this book contains dark topics including alcohol abuse, child abuse, drugs and others. don't continue if you don't wish to read that. also, THIS IS NOT A SHIP FIC. This is NOT where you are shipping them with each other, it is strictly platonic and they are seen as a FAMILY.

Dying was always the easiest thing. Dying was just as easy as giving up on on something you hadn't even wanted to do, or to let go of a petty joke. Despite what others said, it wasn't as much pain as people made it out to be. It was really just like succumbing to a fight you were never gonna win, in a way it was like a warm hug, always there for you and ready to take you away.

Living, well living wasn't as easy. There was no hug to look forward to, you were left to yourself. To pick up the scraps, as small as they were, and make something of yourself. You had to just grit your teeth and push through all the blood and sweat and suffering even though in the end there was no reward. There never was, just a false hope, a tireless game where when you were tired and ready to give up hope came back for just a split second so that you'd get your hopes up once again.

Living was the cruelness of the emptiness you had, sitting alone with no one there. Where you were breaking and breaking and breaking and no amount of tape could make you whole again. And yet it smiled and grinned and left you alone to suffer. And suffer. And suffer. For suffering was always there, whiles happiness was only temporary.

Life and death are mysterious things, of course not mysterious enough that you'd wonder about it. But mysterious enough that it gets you to question things.

But sometimes, all you have left to do is question.

 _These_ are the stories of a group of five who's suffering stretched far beyond the questions of others.

\---

Gabriel had always had to be strong. He was the eldest child of four from Amelia and Juan Moore. Gabriel had grown up in a farm in the middle of nowhere, with little to no contact to anyone outside of his family. The only time he ever had communication outside of the Moore farm was when he had to go up into the city (it was more closer to a town, but people called it a city nonetheless) to buy food, and that was only nearing just before the divorce between his two parents as keeping up with farming had been more difficult. So he had basically no human contact. 

His mother didn't count as human, as he had stopped thinking of her as such the more and more she had her bad days.

There was a time before this, when Gabriel was only 8 and his younger sister Kara had only been 4. The younger ones, Liam and Jacob hadn't been born yet. When ma hadn't started drinking and let Gabriel drag her to pick strawberries. When pa had actually interacted with mom like a normal couple had, overly affectionate and loving. It had been nice, they hadn't had a lot of money but more than they had when ma's drinking problem started. Just enough to keep the family stable.

Gabriel remembered only vague memories of those times, but he had never liked to dwell on the past. After all, it had already happened so why think about it? Of course during bad days he seemed to be spending more time dwelling on the past than he'd ever thought he would.

The Moore family had been pretty normal as families had been. The couple, Amelia and Juan, had married young and therefore were more reckless, having a baby at only 23 years old. Juan had dropped out of college for the pretty girl, who was quite a charmer with her mischievous humor and sly pranks.

(Amelia had played pranks with Gabriel when he was younger, he remembered on one of ma's particularly bad days. It didn't help when the booming sound of his ma's yelling was still echoing outside of the safety of his room.)

When Gabriel was four, little Kara had been born into the world. She was quite a curious spirit and pa had said (like he had said with all his babies) that the god himself had blessed the baby. Then, when Gabe was 13 (almost 14 by then) the younger boys had been born. They were twins, Liam and Jacob, both being born almost seconds apart from each other. Liam had been born with a curly head of blonde hair, quite unusual for all the other Moore family had the deepest brown hair like dark chocolate and hot cocoa.

It was only when the twins were 3 was when ma started drinking and everything went downhill. Pa had moved out on account of ma being "too much" leaving the kids to deal with their alcohol consuming mother alone. When ma over drank (which was much too often) she would act two different ways. On her bad days, she would get loud and aggressive, snapping at the smallest thing. This was when she was more likely to hurt, more dangerous to the children. 

When she wasn't on her bad days (there were no good days, just not bad days) she just sat in her chair, eyes glazing over like she was in a different reality. She would only mumble slightly coherent words in response to anything anyone said to her. She didn't fight, or yell she just sat in her chair, gazing off into nothing like she was seeing something more interesting than her shabby home and yet somehow she wasn't impressed.

In the time Gabriel got away from cooking and cleaning and constantly working for his siblings he fought. He brought out one of the old scarecrows and battled it with his wood sword that was close to cracking. Every time he'd repeat in his head, _I must be strong, I must be strong_ over and over until it flooded his senses and instincts. Because if he wasn't strong, he wouldn't be able to help his siblings, if he wasn't strong he wouldn't be able to protect them and hold them close.

Jacob sometimes complained about ma, as he was the only one still ignorant to what was happening. Kara would shush Jacob, with this look in her eyes as though she wasn't truly focusing on the world around her. Liam would only fiddle with his thumbs, staring at his hands as though he had nothing else to do. In a way, he didn't.

On ma's bad days, where she would yell and scream and tear the whole house apart Gabriel would hide his siblings in his closest. This was the only time that Kara ever seemed really "here". Gabriel would tell her to protect the younger ones and Kara would snap to attention, the look in her eyes disappearing like it was never there. Liam would hold onto Kara and Jacob's hands tightly while Jacob would stare at Gabriel. Even when he left, he would just stare at where he had been as though he was still standing there.

Before, Jacob would always complain and whine although still a bit scared. Now, ever since ma had hit him, he simply stared.

Gabriel would make sure they were safe and sound before turning around to go to ma, and every time Kara would grip his hand with a pleading look.

_"Don't go. Please. She- she-"_

But Gabriel would just smile and leave to face the storm, even though at the end of the day Kara would always have to patch up his wounds. She would hiss at him, although it had long lost its bitter edge. Nowadays it was just sad. Because she knew that if Gabe wasn't there to be their mother's victim, then she would get mad, angrier than she ever was before. She would let out an ear-piercing scream and tear the whole house apart. Always yelling about where those "disgusting rats" were. And if she found them she would get up close in their faces and poke a finger into whoever person's chest was closer to her, spitting in their face about how they were just like their "roach of a father". Then she would drag them away and spank them with a belt for hours until it hurt. 

In Gabe's eyes, whatever happened to him was better than the other option.

So yeah, he had always had to be strong. For if he wasn't, then others would suffer because of him.

-*-

It had been a September night, particularly cold and windy. Pa was coming home, for the first time in years. He had meant it as a surprise, walking up the dirt road that led to the Moore household. He had a grin playing on his face, and when he found the door unlocked he entered the house with a giddy air that did not fit in the miserable home. He had froze in his tracks at the scene in front of him, his wife, the woman he had loved for years was holding _his_ child and slapping him with a boot. From the looks of it, as hard as she could.

Amelia had frozen, turned towards Juan and dropped Gabriel as though he was garbage. Gabriel and Amelia stared and stared and stared at the figure of Juan, the man who had ran away years ago.

Then Amelia had smiled and tried to rush and embrace Juan but he pushed her back with an angry look in his eyes. There had been yelling, plenty of yelling. The younger children had come to see what was happening, and Liam had almost lept into his father's arms if it weren't for Kara holding the boy back.

The divorce was short and official and just like that Juan Moore had full custody of his children. Gabriel remembered when his ma was being shoved into a police car that she had grabbed his hand with a grip as tight and forced as all those times she had dragged him across the floor. And with a pleading look of desperation in her eyes she had said,

_"Gabe, Gabe! My sweet boy! You love me, don't you? Don't let these people take away your dear mother!"_

And for a split second Gabriel had actually thought about letting her back in but then his eyes flashed back to his siblings and his wounds had stinged more than ever in that moment. He dropped his mother's hand and then she was finally gone, pushed between cold bars. That look in her eyes though would forever haunt Gabriel.

Life with his father had been okay for the least. He had a nice apartment with three rooms, one of which Liam and Jacob shared and the other in which Gabriel and Kara shared. And if his father ever came back late from work Gabe didn't say anything, because for once Kara was looking like she was actually _here_ and Jacob wasn't constantly attached to Liams side and vice-versa. (As much Jacob said, he wasn't brave and fearless. And neither was Gabriel.)

They actually had a decent life in the end. Gabriel had been in college for a couple of years before dropping out. After all, he had found that the sword fighting he had learned in his life actually came in handy, sometimes taking jobs to hunt for money. Kara had actually finished college with a degree in science (she had thought it was gross when Gabriel cried) and had stayed happy and single. Jacob finished highschool before running off to "make something of himself". In the end, he found a girl in one of the towns he was exploring and married her. They currently have two kids. Liam worked enough to build a library (which was actually quite popular, although Gabriel didn't read as much as he used to).

Gabriel made sure to keep in touch with his family, to keep them as close as he dared. Although they didn't need as much protecting as they used to.

-*-

Gabriel met Ivor when had managed to get caught in a nasty explosion. When the dust cleared there was Ivor, fumbling with his potions in a frustrated manner. He had looked up and locked eyes with the younger warrior.

"Hey." Gabriel had said as casually as possible.

"Hey." Ivor then rushed away as though he had never been there.

Gabriel had ended up meeting Ivor a couple of times before actually learning his name. Ivor had announced himself in a rushed way, seemingly not the best at introductions. He was awkward, something that Gabriel caught onto quickly. Gabe had laughed and slung an arm around the potion maker's shoulders and introduced himself in a way that meant he was no harm. Ivor had visibly relaxed and actually chatted with Gabe a bit before rushing off. It seemed as though the man was always in a rush.

Ivor had introduced him to his friend, Soren. A peculiar name fit for a peculiar man. Soren seemed to be curious about a good lot of things, almost reminding Gabe of his sister. Of course, Soren seemed to want to know _everything_ which was more amusing than annoying. Gabriel had quit his hunting career and instead prompted to go on mini adventures with his new "friends" as Soren had talked about it when Gabriel mentioned his experience in sword-fighting. 

For a while, it was just the trio. Soren always had an vague idea of at least _something_ and Ivor proved to be wonderful with potions, especially when one of them got hurt. Gabriel remembered after a nasty battle in which he had been hit in the stomach pretty bad and Ivor was treating his wounds. Healing potions, as convenient as they were, didn't heal everything so Ivor still was treating his wound. Ivor had already wrapped it in bandages and the bleeding was starting to lessen (not much, but enough so that Gabriel didn't have to change his bandages every few minutes.) After Ivor had finished and the fire was going strong he turned to the warrior with his cup of tea.

"So, what's with those others scars?" Ivor had watched him, waiting to see if the subject was too sensitive. Another thing about Ivor was that he was always observing, pretty sure he thought he was being discreet. He wasn't.

Gabriel didn't flinch, although some painful memories resurfaced. He pushed those away.

"Ah, just my mother. Some old scars that never left." Gabriel was speaking in a soft tone, as to not wake up their other companion. Soren had the tendency to stay up extremely late to write before he eventually collapsed, his head thudding onto his desk in a way that made it obvious to everyone that he was out cold. The other didn't complain as the man hardly got enough sleep as it is, in a way this was a least a bit better.

There was silence, with Ivor just staring at Gabriel. Not with disgust or concern but rather with a look of understanding. After a moment, he nodded and switched his gaze to the fireplace, stirring his tea as though deep in thought.

"I have some scars of my own."

They hadn't spoke about the moment, except a couple of times when it slipped out. In a way, it was nice to not be alone anymore.

-*-

They had met the rest of the gang when they were stopping through a town in an adventure for a night's rest. Magnus and Ellegard had been traveling together for what seemed to be a good while, as they were always teasing one another and bickering. Soren had struck up a conversation with Ellegard and in the end somehow convinced her to join their trio. Magnus had seemed more than happy to oblige, (he seemed to stick to Ellegard like glue despite how much they bickered).

And then they were off in their adventures as The Order of the Stone (named by a slightly tipsy Soren after they had made the amulet). In truth they hadn't even made their temple until after their nether adventure. It took a lot of work but Soren had practically been beaming and the space was convenient for Ellie's inventions that followed a mathematical method through and through and Magnus whose creative ideas sometimes ended up in an explosive ways. The more space, the less smoke they had to clear out when they blew up.

Gabriel hadn't even realized Soren had a command block until after the dragon was gone.

When looking back at the moment (he had been huddled together with the rest of the crew, screaming for Soren to get away from the dragon and at that moment right before Soren pulled that damned block out of his pocket he had held his little family close, closer than ever. Because although he hadn't been able to protect his siblings, he could at least protect them.)

Ivor hadn't been happy. When they returned back to the temple Ivor had pulled Soren aside and there had been yelling. Magnus kept flitting his eyes in a panic, as though he was still in the end and Gabriel didn't have the heart to point it out. They had almost died and it was horrible because it seemed as though Soren had knew that.

Gabriel remembered when Soren had first brought up the topic of the ender dragon, Magnus had spit out his drink, Ellegard had looked alarmed while also patting Magnus's back as he suffered from a coughing fit. Ivor had sighed and looked up from his book at the architect with a slightly annoyed look. Clearly, Soren had mentioned this to him before.

Gabe had let out a laugh of his own, although nervous as he was quite unsure if Soren was joking or not.

Turns out, he wasn't.

Apparently Soren thought their little team could do it, defeat the almighty ender dragon. Ellie had opened her mouth to retort but Gabriel had quickly placed a hand on her mouth as if saying ' _let him have this_ '. It was truly sad because Soren had actually made them think that they could to it, all while they didn't know he was planning to cheat his way to fame.

They had gone on adventures, so many adventures that had made Gabriel proud. He had actually thought their team could be worth something, and it always was a nice change from living with his mother. Gabriel had trained and trained, wanting to be stronger for his team. For his _family_. Because at that point, that's what they were. Ellie had been creating lovely new things with her redstone (faintly, Gabe thought of Ellie's flying machine and how Soren had flat out _refused_ to go on that. His excuse had been that it was "unstable". Ivor had teased Soren about it, clearly having known about his fear of heights). Ellegard had more notebooks filled with scraggly notes than ever (Magnus complained about how her handwriting was hard to read). 

The notebook had originally been a gift from Gabriel, seeing how Ellie was always so scatter-brained (something that often caused her to forget stuff because so many things were going on in her brain). Gabe had seen it as a way for her to keep note of stuff and fill her thoughts. In a way, it worked although she still muttered wildly to herself when in the product of a "new idea". Still, when she had filled up the first one Gabriel had got her another one until the others had joined in and it had just become something of the normal when Ellegard needed a new journal and the Order of the Stone managed every time to get her one.

(Did Ellie still have those notebooks? _She did, because they were something of a past for her, although she made sure to never look at them for too long_.)

Ivor had managed to get even better at potion making (is that possible?), always ready with a potion at hand. One time, Ivor had slipped one into Soren's drink when he stayed up too late. It had been hilarious because Soren had clung to Ivor like a koala (god, he was such a sleep cuddler) and Ivor had to practically rip Soren's fingers off to put him in his bed. Soren denied of him ever being a "sleep cuddler" but by god it was funny to tease him about.

And Soren, well he seemed to be stuck in his room more and more. Something that Gabriel had thought was just him making up new designs. (In a way it was, but Soren was also spending his time inspecting the command block.) Still, it had _seemed_ as though they were ready but Gabe should have just listened to his mother's advice.

_"You'll never be ready."_

Although his mom had spit it in his face on one of her bad days, it was still something he came back to.

He knew Soren had planned this, planned to use the command block. He _knew_ they weren't ready and yet he risked their lives anyway.

(After the screaming match, which was mostly just Ivor yelling unless Soren snapped back once or twice, Ellegard had knocked on his door at night surprisingly light. It was a relief, Ellie and Soren had a tendency to just barge in without asking sometimes. Still, today had been a very different day.

Ellie had come in, dragging her feet slightly.

"Can I sleep in your room? Everything has just been..." She trailed off, clearly she was still processing the events of that early day. Gabriel had raised his arm and she had cuddled into him. Later, when he woke up at 6am for when he would normally be training, Magnus sat down on the floor leaning with his back against the bed. His arm draped over Ellie's leg and Gabe's hand had somehow found its way next to Magnus's face. Gabriel had smiled, making no move to get up thinking

 _this is my family, this is my family_.)

Things had been tense and awkward when they announced that they had defeated the ender dragon. The crowd was cheering, but Ivor was just staring at Soren as if he had seen him for the first time. A couple days later, Ivor was gone.

Gabriel had found Soren curled up right next to Ivor's bedroom. He only acknowledged Gabriel but saying,

"he's gone."

There had been smashing and cursing (and a faint bit of sobbing) coming from Soren's study when Gabriel noticed Soren had left. Gabe just sat in the middle of the room that once belonged to their healer. The room had a lack of warmth, as though it had been stripped of what made it special. Magnus and Ellegard had appeared after, with Ellie holding on tightly to Magnus's elbow and Magnus wiping at his eyes every few seconds. He didn't hug them until after, as they had still been in shock.

Ellegard had clutched his side and Magnus had buried his face in Gabriel's chest. Gabe had put an arm around them both his mind screaming at him.

_You weren't strong enough, you weren't strong enough-_

Gabriel had to push down the tears threatening to escape his eyes. Now was not the time. They needed him, he couldn't cry.

And now, years later as he stood up in stage in front of millions of people who adored him for a wrong reason. Gabriel listened to Ivor talk, watched the bitterness that had overcome his friend. Even then, he didn't cry. Ellegard and Magnus were off in their own towns. God knows where Soren was. He had been alone for so long, _so_ very long. And then here was ivor, talking with a rage that hadn't been there the last time they spoke. it hurt to see his friend like this, overcome by the desire to hurt _him_.

All Gabriel could think was, _you weren't strong enough, you weren't strong enough._

**Author's Note:**

> im not exactly happy with this because it feels more rushed at the end but that might just be because it's the first chapter


End file.
